NJ WATCHDOG: Double trouble for Christie

For immediate release:

BRIDGEGATE AND DOUBLEGATE SPELL DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR CHRISTIE

Long before Bridgegate, Gov. Chris Christie and his administration have quietly tried to escape Doublegate – an alleged $245,000 pension fraud involving Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.

New Jersey Watchdog revealed last week that an investigation by the attorney general’s Division of Criminal Justice was virtually non-existent, producing only a secret five-page report following a 13-month probe.

Today, NJ Spotlight followed up with a comprehensive report by Mark Magyar.

Bridgegate and Doublegate spell double trouble for the Christie and company. While Bridgegate has gained national fame, the details of Doublegate are still not widely known. Here is a summary comparing the two scandals:

Bridgegate is an investigation into whether the Christie Administration closed traffic lanes at the George Washington Bridge as retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee, who refused to endorse Christie in the 2013 election.

Doublegate began as an investigation into alleged pension fraud involving Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. It now focuses on whether the Christie Administration effectively sabotaged the investigation.

Bridgegate was investigated by an outside law firm hired by the governor. The inquiry was headed by attorney Randy Mastro.

Doublegate was investigated by the attorney general’s Division of Criminal Justice. Despite an apparent conflict of interest – Guadagno is a former deputy director of DCJ – Christie did not appoint a special investigator or prosecutor.

The Bridgegate report by Mastro is 360 pages. It was publicly released and posted on the Internet at http://gdcreport.com/.

The Doublegate report by DCJ is five pages. It remains a secret document, despite a public records lawsuit by a New Jersey Watchdog reporter.

During the Bridgegate probe, Mastro and his associates interviewed 75 witnesses during a two-month period

During the Doublegate probe, there is no record that DCJ contacted, interviewed or took statements from anyone during a 13-month investigation.

Christie held two press conferences to discuss Bridgegate – a two-hour marathon in January and another one in March after the Mastro report was released.

Christie and Guadagno have repeatedly refused to answer questions about Doublegate.

The Democrat-controlled State Legislature has aggressively pursued an investigation of Bridgegate that has dimmed Christie’s chances of pursuing the White House in 2016.

The State Legislature has essentially ignored Doublegate, which could bring the pension abuses of both Democrats and Republicans into the public spotlight.

New Jersey Watchdog’s latest update on Doublegate is online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/06/02/christie-guadagno-investigation-2/.

Christie Holds Town Hall Today In Fort Lee

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, April 1st, 2014

(Fort Lee, NJ) – Today, Governor Chris Christie will hold his 117th Town Hall meeting in Fort Lee.
“Just like every other town hall we’ve held this year, Fort Lee is a municipality I carried last November,” said Christie. “I look forward to meeting with local residents and answering what’s on their mind. Frankly, folks don't care about unimportant things like closing access lanes to the George Washington Bridge. If for some reason they do care, they can just read the completely comprehensive, impartial, thorough report on the matter released last week.” “……,” said Michael Drewniak, Christie Spokesman. “……..”

“In light of spokesman Mike Drewniak barely speaking to the press for the past 85 days, today I am proud to join Governor Christie’s circle of trust,” said Joshua Henne, Christie’s new spokesman. “The governor and I both love Bruce Springsteen and the Mets. For those reasons, it’s an honor to work the cones alongside Governor Christie today in Fort Lee.”

As always, today’s town hall will have several ground rules. However, based on recent disruptions of attendees attempting to ask difficult questions, a few more regulations have been added. For example, there will be no questions allowed about anything that starts with the letter “S”. This includes – but is not limited to – the following terms: “Subpoenas”, “Samson”, “Stepien”, “Scandal”, “Sokolich” and “Serbian”.

Exceptions will be made to the rule when it comes to “Superstorm Sandy” – however it will only be allowed if the question is about Christie’s fleece or to simply make an obsequious statement of support for the governor. You will be cut off or ignored if you ask about funneling Sandy funds to towns not hit by the hurricane, how the Economic Development Authority has failed to get grants to affected small businesses, or how relief dollars were used for a “Stronger Than The Storm” commercial showcasing Christie and his smiling family in an election year.

Please arrive very, very, very, very early - as traffic has been known to build up at the nearby George Washington Bridge during rush hour. Because this is the first Town Hall not held in a municipality with a mayor or other elected officials friendly with the governor, those attendees endorsing Christie will be given preferential seating, as well as the potential to have access to Sandy rebuilding funds.

Special to today’s town hall will be a specific lane dedicated for the “children of Buono voters.” And if anyone has questions about why that is, and why it takes so long to drive through the town, police officers have been told to direct questions to Mayor Mark Sokolich. If you are a reporter, don’t even try to ask a question during or after the event. Members of the media will have to wait another 80 days for the next opportunity to be berated by Governor Christie when he holds his next Friday 3 pm press conference.

Attendees are encouraged to ask what David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon are like in person. Sports are a good topic, too. For example, feel free to ask Christie who he thinks the Dallas Cowboys should draft next month. However, please do not ask questions about how quiet Christie was during the Super Bowl following the release of David Wildstein’s letter alluding to evidence existing on bridgegate. Along those same lines, please refrain from asking about how the Christie Administration bungled the NJTransit system going to-and-from the SuperBowl even though they had years to plan for the event.

Participants are encouraged to snap a “selfie” with the Governor. Especially if they have adorable children in tow and tell Christie how great he is. However, any signs calling on Christie to resign, asking how an investigation on bridgegate can be considered “thorough” without interviewing the five key members of his administration - or expressing any First Amendment rights at all for that matter – will be immediately confiscated.

For commentary following today’s town hall, you can catch both Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Senator Loretta Weinberg on MSNBC this evening at 5 pm, 5:20 pm, 5:45 pm, 6 pm, 6:25 pm, 6:50 pm, 7:15 pm, 7:30 pm, 8 pm, 8:20 pm, 8:45 pm, 9 pm, 9:15 pm, 9:30 pm, 9:45 pm, 10:10 pm, 10:30 pm and 10:50 pm.

NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney Rejects Maddow's Alternate Bridge Scandal Theory

Eric Lach – TalkingPointsMemo
January 10, 2014

New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) on Friday dismissed an alternate theory that was floated by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow about the George Washington Bridge scandal. 

"That's a real conspiracy thing, right?" Sweeney said, after TPM described to him the gist of Maddow's argument. 

On her Thursday night program, Maddow suggested that the target of the lane closures, which led to a massive, multi-day traffic jam in the town of Fort Lee, N.J., was not the town's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich. In recent months, many Democrats have speculated that Sokolich was retaliated against because he did not endorse Gov. Chris Christie's (R) re-election bid last year. 

Instead, Maddow suggested, the lane closures were prompted by Christie's bitter fight with Senate Democrats over re-appointments and nominees to the state Supreme Court. The cable news host pointed out that Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg's (D) district includes Fort Lee. She also noted that a key moment in the Supreme Court fight happened the day before one of Christie's aides sent a now-infamous email that read: "Time for traffic problems in Fort Lee." 

But Sweeney, who said he did not see Maddow's program, rejected the theory.
"That can't be part of that, that can't be," he told TPM, referring to the Supreme Court fight, later adding: "Whoever said that has a very creative imagination." 

Sweeney suggested that now that federal prosecutors are looking into the bridge incident, the truth about the lane closures will eventually come out. 

"They're going to get to the bottom of it," he said.

See the video of Maddow's alternate theory here

Buono: ‘I don’t see Chris Christie as a victim’

Shortly after Governor Christie's press conference today, State Sen. Barbara Buono appeared on MSNBC withAndrea Mitchell reacting to what was said during the governor's press conference by talking about the “covering up” and finding it “strange” that Chris Christie didn’t know what was happening back in September, when lanes on the George Washington Bridge were closed backing up traffic into Fort Lee.

Gov. Christie Blames His Senior Staff For ‘Brideggate’ Scandal

Report by Mark Lagerkvist - NJ Watchdog
January 9, 2014

CHRISTIE BLAMES STAFF; TROTS TRENTON TWO-STEP TO SAVE 2016 BID

Nearly three years before the 2016 election, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is already in damage control in an effort to save his unannounced campaign for president.

Trotting the Trenton two-step, Christie took responsibility for the Bridgegate scandal while squarely placing the blame on others. According to the governor, his chief misstep was trusting a hand-picked staff that lied to him.

“I had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or execution, and I am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here,” said Christie at a press conference. “This is not how the administration has conducted itself for the last four years – and not the way it will conduct itself for the next four.”

So heads rolled at the Statehouse, as a contrite Christie declared himself “embarrassed and humiliated,” then quickly cut his losses with an eye on the future.

The governor fired a key aide, severed ties with his top political adviser and apologized profusely for his office’s role in closing traffic lanes as an act of political revenge.

“Time for traffic problems in Fort Lee,” wrote deputy chief of staff Bridget Ann Kelly in a smoking gun email. Christie said he first learned of her role yesterday. Then he threw Kelly under the bus this morning.

Former chief of staff Bill Stepien was also road kill from the controversy that caused four days of massive tie-ups on the George Washington Bridge in September. As a result, Stepien will not be the new chair of the State Republican Committee and will lose his consulting gig with the Republican Governors Association.

As part of Christie’s public mea culpa, the governor said he planned to travel to Fort Lee to personally apologize to Mayor Mark Sokolich. The lane closures were intended as political revenge against Sokolich, who refused to endorse Christie in the November election.

What remains to be seen is how the local scandal and Christie’s remedial maneuvers play to a national electorate that has so far smiled upon the bombastic governor in opinion polls.

A verbal slip at the press conference belied Christie’s presidential ambitions.

“I am not a focus group-tested, blow-dried candidate…or governor,” said Christie while expounding on the authenticity of his character. “I am what I am, but I am not a bully.”

The scandal is not likely to go away soon. New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman today announced an investigation into the lane closures. In addition, the Assembly Transportation Committee probe that subpoenaed the damning emails is expected to continue.

- See more at: http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/01/09/christie-bridgegate-scandal/#sthash.u8Sx9rYN.dpuf

Pallone Statement on Christie Press Conference

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) released the following statement in reaction to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s comments regarding his administrations involvement in the closure of traffic lanes at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, NJ last September:

The actions by Governor Christie’s administration that resulted in the lane closures on the nation’s busiest bridge are disgraceful and represent the worst type of political retaliation and abuse of public trust. Governor Christie must come clean, take full responsibility and explain in detail exactly what occurred. Today’s press conference served to raise more questions than it answered. All of the facts surrounding this incident must be put on the table immediately and any and all appropriate actions should be taken to hold everyone involved accountable.

Statement from Senator Barbara Buono on New Revelations in George Washington Bridge Scandal

Former Democratic Candidate for Governor, NJ Senator Barbara Buono released the following statement on the new revelations in George Washington Bridge scandal:

"Right now, we have no idea how far this scandal goes. The Governor has created a culture where cavalierly endangering citizens' lives to exact political retribution is an acceptable form of governance. It's beneath the dignity of his office and a breach of New Jerseyans' trust.

"Everyone who had knowledge of the closing should be terminated immediately and the Department of Justice should conduct a thorough investigation to determine whether other towns in New Jersey suffered because the Governor wanted to get revenge."

Statement From Democratic Party Chair John Currie Concerning Latest Bridgegate Revelations

(Trenton) — New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chairman John Currie issued the following statement in regard to emails released today that show a top Christie administration official was directly involved in the closure of access lanes to the George Washington Bridge -- an act of political retribution that endangered thousands in northern New Jersey:

“These emails demonstrate that under Governor Christie, vindictive political motivations were allowed to trump any regard for public safety.

“As hearings into this matter continue, Governor Christie owes us an explanation for why his core team appears to have such disdain for the public trust and how they could seriously abuse the power of the governor's office right under his nose.

"This time, I suggest that the governor try a new approach when answering questions: honesty."